The Leaves Burn Again
by XLucy0117X
Summary: (Used to be called "A Rough Beginning to a Flawed Ending") Naruto expects to die when he feels the Kyuubi being extracted. However, when he awakens, he slowly realizes that he was wrong. Time-Travel and spoilers from recent manga chapters. COMPLETE


I honestly don't know what to think of this. I sat down, feeling like I have to write something and this came out. I apologize for its crappiness.

* * *

"I can't…" Naruto gripped his kunai tighter in the palm of his hand. He acknowledges briefly that his finger nails are drawing blood from his tight clutch of the weapon. He acknowledges it, but he doesn't care. He found he doesn't care about anything anymore. There is no reason to. His friends are dead – Konoha Twelve is no more.

After Neji's death, Team Gai spent much time crying over their friend and comrade before joining the battle with a furious frenzy. But it isn't enough.

Sasuke joined the battle with the past Hokages and even with their great strength, they were thrown about like ragdolls. Team Seven was reunited and they found that although they had not trained or fought with each other in years, they are able to find a good pace and equal ground among themselves. Sasuke still had a hard time fighting for the others and Naruto found himself facing the brunt of attacks. He'd been fighting for so long and even with the chakra boosts from Kurama, it wasn't enough. After all Kurama has a large storage of chakra, but it isn't infinite. Naruto started to slow down with his attacks, using chakra only when necessary.

The Five Kages arrived to the scene and took charge. It was like a breath of fresh air or even a breath of life. Everyone focused on Madara after the defeat of Obito and his attempt at atonement. The statue sent a dark chill down their spines.

The Kyuubi is extracted from him. He felt the pain – sharp, stabbing, _excruciating_ (stop, _please stop_) – then he saw nothing.

* * *

_It's dark. Too dark._ Naruto first thought, wondering if it is his hair caught in the wind that keeps brushing against his face. Something keeps rustling nearby and he hears the whistling of the wind. _Death is strange_, he muses. The darkness fits the place he is in. He had wondered what would happen when you died. He isn't religious at all and didn't really spare much attention to Buddha or anyone else that the others did, especially that Jashin guy. No, he doesn't know where he ended up. However, he never feared death when facing impossible situations against those who wanted to maim or kill him. But now that he knew death, he isn't confident of that anymore.

He feels his head being lifted, a large warm hand lifting it gently but surely. A jumble of noises and a desperate, pleading voice meets his ears. The blackness is scaring him – if he can hear, even though not clearly, why can't he see? That is when Naruto realizes his eyes are closed. The effort to lift them then is almost too much for Naruto. His head hurts.

He concentrates on the voice as the blackness before his eyes began to fade in shades to the actual image of where he is and who is in front of him. The voice is familiar, eerily familiar, but impossible. He couldn't be here. His blurry face in front of his isn't helping his frantic thoughts. _Iruka isn't here. Iruka couldn't be here. What is Iruka doing here? _

"Naruuouaight?" What is he saying? Why is he slurring his words?

He tries to make his lips work, make them move, say his name, ask why he is here, but he can't. They feel numb and swollen, like the time he had fell into Sasuke and their lips crashed together.

He manages a harsh breath. He imagines it came out more like a moan. The Iruka in front of him reaches another hand to caress his cheek in a fatherly embrace. "Natoatssong?" _Why is he slurring? I can't understand him._ Iruka's face begins to clear, but the sounds to his ears and Iruka's voice still leaves him confused.

He thinks he hears him call for help. He's not definite of that though.

The headache hits him again, this time as he closes his eyes in a grimace, pictures – no, memories – swim in his vision. The memories hurt him more. He stops paying attention to the memories when the pain becomes too much for his to bear. Just when he is sure this pain isn't going to end, he blacks out again.

* * *

When he awakes, it isn't like the first time. This time it is a rush. Everything hits him – consciousness, memories, his last thoughts, _Iruka_… He sits up with a silent scream, eyes searching the room. He is in a hospital. There aren't any hospitals in the place after death, are there? He can't still be alive and even if he is, they don't take care of ninjas that are on the battlefield in hospitals, Naruto knows that. It is done in tents and on the move. Then where is he?

He quickly scrambles to his feet, falling into an ungraceful heap at the side of his bed. His legs feel short, and his hands barely catch his before his face can take the brunt of the assault. He stays in that position a few seconds longer, waiting for someone to hear his ruckus and come after his. No one does. He slowly gets up, praying silently to anyone who will listen that his limbs won't give up on him. He shuffles to the other side of the room, where there's a bathroom. His legs won't seem to move correctly and Naruto wonders why everything is so large. The height of the bed should reach near his thighs, not his waist.

He enters the room, gripping the wall to keep him steady, but stops at the sight in the mirror. He screams.

This time he feels a shift behind him, and nurses and flood into his room, more curious than worried if their looks are anything to go by. He doesn't care though. They're moving in the corner of his eye, some leaving while others linger, their curiosity getting the best of them.

"What's wrong?" The voice is stern and the authority in it makes Naruto turn to her.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto rasps, his voice highis than he remembers it being. His reflection and his voice both leave him unsettled, working together to lead to the conclusion of – _no, I won't go there. _

The nurse sighs heavily, eyes catching Naruto's in an aggressive glare. "Your sensei said you blacked out in the middle of the forest."

"Forest?" Naruto held back the impulse to grip his throat.

"We don't have the details. We just take care of the patients."

"But I wasn't in a forest. I was over fighting in the war – I should be there, no, I should be dead."

The nurse eyed Naruto angrily, albeit warily. "What are you talking about?" The innocent question is laced in disgust, much to Naruto's surprise. Nobody has treated his this way in a year. Is it because of this body? Is this body the reason? _You travelled through time._ He ignores the thought, but can't help but feel the fear and small happiness at the idea that it can be true.

"I'm getting Hokage – sama," The nurse says resignedly, nose turned upward in the air. The rest of the nurses depart closely behind the woman.

Naruto stood there, afraid of who he'll see walk through the door. If it's Tsunade, he's going to ask about the war and what happened when he lost the Kyuubi. If the Sandaime is the one to walk through the door, Naruto knows for certain he will keep control of himself and try to figure this out calmly.

When the door creaks open by an old, wrinkly hand, Naruto gasps. The man enters the room completely, his pipe nowhere in sight and white robe stain-free. As Naruto stood there, he can't help but accept that _yes_, he did travel back in time, and _yes_, he has to change what happened in the future…even if it killed him. A tear slipped from the corner of his eye.


End file.
